What type of pen writes on maintenance release?!!

[rymi]

Does anyone else have terrible trouble trying to sign or write the hours on the waxy paper of a maintenance release? Such that the document ends up looking like the pilot was drunk every time he signed it?

What is the best type of pen / biro that will reliably write on a maintenance release?

[Captain Nomad]

It's the time of year also. Summer time means lots of sweaty hands resting on the paper while signing and leaving residue which makes writing difficult.

'Roller ball' style ball ink pen or Parker ball point ink pens and refills (the genuine Parker ink is the best) are the go IMHO. :ok:

[Left 270]

Ive got a Parker and still have the same issues. Just about gave up the other day trying to write in completed maintenance. Guy I know got some "super pen" refill for his, ill ask what it was, seemed to work ok.

[Car RAMROD]

Parker roller ball is always pretty good. Even the plastic Bic does a good job.

Stay away from gel ink or felt tips, they are terrible I have found.

Try keep it as clean as possible. As mentioned grotty hands all over it won't help so try minimise that as much as you can.

[Stanwell]

.
Spirit-based fine fibre-tips (0.5mm) have generally worked for me on such surfaces.

[tnuc]

Fisher space pen

[Substandard]

Try gently scraping the wax off and roughening the surface of the MR with a new ScotchBrite scourer. Any good quality biro should then work, but do not press too heavily.

[Squawk7700]

Without fail, regardless of the pen style (except felt pens) I always have to get the pen started on another piece of paper first, then move to the MR. I also find that I need something solid behind the MR to write on it effectively.

Don't scrape off the wax, otherwise the inherit water and fire-proof qualities of the MR may be lost forever :{

[currawong]

crayon.:rolleyes:

[peterc005]

Cheap biros don't work because the heat causes the ink to brain away.

Medium felt tip pens or a good quality biro seem to be best.

[wishiwasupthere]

What is the best type of pen / biro that will reliably write on a maintenance release?

A very rare one, that should be guarded with your life, and pray that it doesn't run out of ink!

[rmcdonal]

PaperMate Profile Retractable Ballpoint Pens Black 4 Pack | Officeworks (http://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/papermate-profile-retractable-ballpoint-pens-black-4-pack-sa052502bk?cm_mmc=google-_-pla-_-Papermate-_-SA052502BK&cm_mmca1=NULL&cm_mmca3=conversion&cm_mmca9=columbus&CAWELAID=620015440000144908&CAGPSPN=pla&catargetid=620015440000753834&cadevice=c&gclid=CJyS3MvznsMCFVeXvQodk30AnQ)
or
Pilot G-2 Fine Retractable Gel Pen Black | Officeworks (http://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/pilot-g-2-fine-retractable-gel-pen-black-pi622509?cm_mmc=google-_-pla-_-Pilot-_-PI622509&cm_mmca1=NULL&cm_mmca3=conversion&cm_mmca9=columbus&CAWELAID=620015440000154138&CAGPSPN=pla&catargetid=620015440000753828&cadevice=c&gclid=CNXJvrLznsMCFVFwvAodAksAhg)

[kingRB]

I do like those certain MR's some workshops have that are in normal type card / paper without the bull**** wax on them. They are a dream to write on in comparison :ok:

[aileron_69]

The Bic Clic ballpoints with the fine tip rather than the standard tip work a bit better.

[Kiwiconehead]

I have used the Pilot G2s for ages - they write really well on logs.

[Stationair8]

Old GA rule ,

1.never let pilots near a M/R with a biro,

2. a well maintained aeroplane will only ever go unserviceable on the leg to the maintenance base,

[rymi]

Thanks guys, many humorous replies there, and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who grapples with this issue on a daily basis. It looks real professional doesn't it when the pilot can't write on his paperwork and has to get the pen started by scribbling on a piece of scrap paper... almost as reassuring as not being able to start a hot continental with pax onboard and people watching (especially if you forgot to turn the mags on).

But there are some genuine suggestions as to which pen works best and I shall purchase a variety next time I'm at office works!

[Sunfish]

Bic multi color Biro. That way I can make the MR a thing of multi coloured beauty.

[airwolf117]

Fishers Space Pen........Couldn't Agree more !

I bought one after seeing a mate use it on EVERY MR without issue. Best buy, and if you get it from the states (and buy bulk refills on ebay) it works out very affordable!

[Centaurus]

In another era I couldn't get the gear down in a Baron while landing at Essendon. Long story but not here. Tried to wind it down but the handle would wind only three or four turns each way and then jam up. Turned out that was due to freight often being dumped over the winder and deforming it enough to make it jam. The hard plastic cover over the handle was cracked with age and freight on it. End result I cut my hand badly on the sharp plastic and bled a lot.

Finally got the gear down and wrote it up in the maintenance release. Got the DCM for all that but had the satisifaction of bleeding all over the maintenance release. As usual the MR had no recorded defects on it before that flight (SOP in GA) but after I finished with it the blood and pen entry were mixed with each other and another MR needed..:ok:

[aileron_69]

Nothing says the plane needs fixing like an MR written in Blood eh Centaurus? :ok:

[Squawk7700]

A mate had his pax vomit on the MR. It pretty much washed off due to the wax component :yuk:

[5-in-50]

Parker make a refill for their range of metal pens called "Quink", I think it's called.

Find Parker's genuine product by this name and never have MR troubles again.

[Metro man]

Remember you need to have "enough" snags written up on an aircraft. If you don't have a similar write up rate to other operators of the same type and age it's a red flag for CASA.

Agree re Space Pen, if that won't write on a surface then you need a paintbrush.

[Old Akro]

Surely there is a CASA approved product? :ok:

[ddoth]

I find the BIC biros work almost all of the time, have to get it started on another piece of paper occasionally.
Papermates (or whatever the really inky type ones are) never seem to fail either.

[Old Fella]

Metro Man, surely you jest. To suggest that "enough' snags have to be written up for all aircraft of the same type and of similar age being used by different operators to avoid giving a Red flag alert to CASA seems to me to be a bit of a stretch. I hope your tongue was firmly in your cheek when you made that comment.

[Grogmonster]

What Pen Works ???? One of the great mysteries of modern day aviation!!!!

Groggy

[Aussie Bob]

A clean MR is a red flag to Mr CASA.

Pure garbage!

[fencehopper]

try thumbnail dipped in tar. :)

[Metro man]

CASA oversee many different operators and if one has no defects on a twenty year old piston twin over a 100 hours, yet the others have ten defects written up it suggests that either they are incredibly lucky, spend a fortune on preventative maintenance or don't write up snags.

Overseas, there was an airline which never had a defect occur on an outbound sector. Anything which went wrong always happened on the leg back to base.

CASA are like the tax office, they see what everybody does and can pick up something out of the ordinary. If you claim for a medical on your tax return and your doctors bill is ten times the average then expect a query.

[Creampuff]

A clean MR is a red flag to Mr CASA.As it should be.

It is extraordinarily unusual for an aircraft not to have suffered defects that have been rectified or carried through subsequent flights, in between each issue of an MR or approved equivalent.

A clean MR is almost invariably an indication that the operator and its pilots do not understand and are not complying with the defect recording rules.

It's surprising how many operators and pilots don't understand the circumstances in which it is perfectly legal to fly an aircraft with open defects on the MR or approved equivalent. But never fear: the new, plain English rules will fix all this, in 1998.

[Pastor of Muppets]

Any pen that can write "dying industry" ought do the job.

[Left 270]

20yr old piston twins! Who has flash gear like that? I'll drop my resume in tomorrow!:}

[rymi]

Of course he actually means 40 year old piston twins, which, in another 20 years, might eventually be upgraded to 40 year-old PC12s?

[Judd]

that the operator and its pilots do not understand and are not complying with the defect recording rules.

Oh they understand alright. They are hoping to get away with it without be caught...

[Eddie Dean]

Oh they understand alright. They are hoping to get away with it without be caught... That is probably a bit harsh Mr Judd. I have seen what Creampuff refers to, the defects are rectified but no record completed for them. That's at the Airwork/charter end of the spectrum, as Creampuff says - all will be rectified with the new 1998 regulations

[Old Fella]

Gentlemen, I am 74 years of age and I know my eyesight is such as to require corrective spectacles but I cannot find anywhere, in the post of MM which I questioned, where it was claimed the MR "would be clear between issues". Metro Man asserted that "enough" snags had to be written up. Properly maintained, and importantly, properly operated aircraft will not usually suffer as many defects as those poorly maintained and/or poorly operated. Not every maintenance organisation is operated by "shonky engineers" and not all aeroplanes are flown by "cowboy" pilots. I do not think it at all unusual for two similar aircraft being operated and maintained by different companies would have differing numbers of defects.

[mcgrath50]

It's fairly obvious and common sense that when CASA comes through and audits your aircraft's MRs (or your fleets MRs) that if there are ZERO (or almost ZERO) defects. Or defects only ever found at the end of a days operations at home base then something is suss.

Particularly in commercial ops with a handful of aircraft, it's not difficult to discern a pattern that would be worth investigating even if there was no similar aircraft to compare them to.